Solar energy collecting systems have become increasingly important as the cost of conventional fuels has risen. Improvements in the efficiency of solar energy collecting systems have made solar energy a valuable source of power even in areas with relatively little direct sunlight. The efficiency of a solar energy system is dependent as much upon the design of each individual collecting unit as upon the arrangement of the individual unit or units in relation to the moving sun and to each other. An individual collecting unit may be very efficient when used alone but uneconomical when used with similar units in a system operating in a limited area such as on the roof of a house. Often, each of these more efficient units requires a lot of space and any crowding of them results in the shading of one unit by another. If the units are designed to move, then crowding of them usually interferes with their necessary movement for peak efficiency. Consequently, a system of any such units when used in a limited area would collect much less than 100% of the sunlight striking the area.
Most prior solar energy collecting systems have an individual collecting unit or units that are fixed in relation to the moving sun. The unit or units do not move to follow the sun as it crosses the sky and if there are plural units, each unit usually operates independently of the others. These systems often involve the use of an elaborately designed reflector. The reflector is stationary and is shaped to always reflect the rays of the moving sun onto the collector. Examples of these systems include U.S. Pat. No. 3,179,105 issued to Falbel; U.S. Pat. No. 2,625,930 issued to Harris; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,331,012 issued to Hervey.
Other solar energy collecting systems include those that are movable to follow the sun such as U.S. Pat. No. 3,923,039 issued to Falbel. Units like Falbel's are designed to maximize the efficiency of an individual unit and it is often difficult to efficiently use a plurality of such units in a system operating in a limited area such as on a roof.